Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

Don't think he could've done much more, other than score one of his trademark free-kicks. Pressed & tackled well, kept the play moving in possession and demonstrated his set piece abilities when required. If Southgate picks someone else, it's because he's clueless not because Prowsey hasn't been good enough.

There's a bit of me that thinks Southgate is going to wait until after this weekend's game in case someone else gets injured or it becomes more obvious that one of those already with an injury is unlikely to take part. That way he doesn't have to make a decision between the likeliest choices of JWP and Lingard, he could pick both. Gutless or sensible? Probably both...

It'll be Arsenal where Zaha ends up. So many areas of their team need improvement to try for the top 4 again yet they will buy another forward and hope it fixes everything!

Southgate has been a bottler since he missed that penalty. It's always easier to drop someone from a smaller squad and include a half injured player from a so called bigger team. I mean what sort of weak twat drops Lingard from the squad then says he'll play him in this week's first friendly...?

Lingard omitted too apparently...

Looks like Minamino might be up for sale after all, as part of an Anfield clear out, according to this (it is the Sun, I accept...): https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/15097753/liverpool-transfer-cull-wijnaldum-origi-shaqiri/

Southampton's social media department have finally revealed their true feelings towards Ralph... “Yes, he [Oriol] was training today so only Will Smallbone is out and Ché Adams is out," the nagger said. "Ché cannot play at the weekend as he has a small groin injury, so he will also definitely be out. The rest are fit.”

We have form for that even pre Les. Think Imants Bleidelis and Kleber Chala...

I wonder if Blackmore is slightly irked by the fact that he wasn't chosen to run the last fans forum, given he's been on the mic for previous ones? Maybe he's not quite as 'in' as he was and he's decided to be a bit more vocal as a result?

Could be a "name on shirt" money spinner. Just like Jelle van Damme was...

For me, yes, just ahead of KWP and JWP. Fantastic player and an absolute steal at £7 million.

Well that was a pleasant surprise. Everything I wanted from a Saints team. Resilient, confident on the ball, worked hard for the full 90 minutes and (Danny) took our chances when they came. Thought Salisu looked better than Bednarek when he came on and nice for Jack to get away with his momentary lapse of concentration for once. Minamino flattered to deceive for me, was calling for Theo or Tella to come on and make the most of what was coming his way. Nice to see a Saints keeper stop a penalty for once too. And fair play Ralph, you got this one right. More please!

Never a red but great to see us finally show some fight at last. Salisu was immense and maybe even threatens Jannik's position. Stephens gave us some much needed voice and belligerence. Adams worked so hard and Armstrong gave his usual hard running performance. Dare I say it, Ralph even got it right tactically when we went down to 10...

But surely he will want to protect his legacy? Oh...

I do wonder how much our ability to adapt if things aren't going well is hindered by the playbook Ralph spent the summer producing. It's great if it's working but, if it doesn't or it starts to fail, unpicking it across all levels when you've spent the initial months of a season trying to embed it must be pretty impossible in the short term. Maybe it's too rigid and doesn't allow for greater tactical flexibility and/or maybe it's been quickly sussed out by the rest of the league but it might explain why we try the same thing week after week, game after game regardless of how we are doing. It could be the players are starting to feel the same - there's only so many times hit your head against a brick wall before you realise it hurts! I guess it would also require the author to admit it's not quite perfect or, worse, completely flawed and I'm not sure Ralph would want to show such loss of face.

Be honest now - are you Ian Branfoot? Do you want to make us the new Crystal Palace? 😀

As per normal, great first half, poor/ran out of steam/ideas/Ings second half. Not the thumping I thought we'd get but still no points. On a worse run than Sheff Utd in 2021 tells its own tale. Salisu and Tella did ok, Ings looked better and took his goal well, KWP was his usual effective self and Armstrong drove us forward in the first half. Not much from the others really. I can't believe my own apathy at the result but that mirrors the general lack of enthusiasm about our club at the moment. I don't think watching the same system fail week after week, with no variations to formation or approach really helps.

Is that a "dare you to sack me" side or what? We're going to get dumped on again aren't we?

Gary Lineker did once. I'd suggest we've been doing that consistently since we beat Liverpool in January...

Hopefully Ralph's booked in to attend...

An utter waste of a semi-final. We'd have been better off letting Bournemouth get there and save ourselves the embarrassment. I imagine they'd have had more of a go than we did. If that's leaving it all out there then the amount of effort it takes to be a professional footballer has diminished massively from my recollections.

I wonder if we'll get to join ESL2. Or 3.

Jeez! How bad are we. It'd be "interesting" to run a poll to see what everyone thinks is our worst half of football this season. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't at Old Trafford despite the score...

Wasn't there also an Egyptian centre-back we were linked with - Hany Ramzy - after he did so well at the 1990 World Cup? I seem to recall his name popping up a bit on Clubcall too. Hmmm... the number of names I'm starting to recall alongside posts which are prompting me to remember other linked players suggests I really did waste too much time/money on Clubcall!!

We seem to do better with Scandanavian players, IMO, many of whom these days are now hoovered up by German and other continental European sides. Bringing them in from their own countries before they move to those leagues surely has to be a better bet than scouring South America where we don't know if the player will transition well to a very different style of football. I accept we've had the odd Stig Johansen or Vegard Forren but they didn't really break the bank in terms of transfer fee. I'm thinking Lundekvam, the two Svenssons, Ostenstad, Vestergaard, Hojbjerg, Ostlund and Stensgaard (ok, I'm joking about the last one) but I think you get my point.